The use of Ipads, internet and innovative teaching techniques in the classroom requires new skills of children; knowledge of ICT, processing information, critical, problem solving and creative thinking. #BlendedLearning #FlippedClassroom www.spanish-school-herradura.com/online-spanish

What is Blended Learning? This is a question that I frequently think about and a term that gets tossed around in education. It's a smorgasbord of teaching strategies that uses analog and digital technologies to teach and learn. Below is a list of resources that can be used for Blended Learning instruction.

I see you. In her Ted Talk, Amanda Palmer, the alternative rock icon of the Dresden Dolls, talked about her time as a human statue. She would stand on the street, painted white and on a pedestal, as “The 8 foot bride.” When someone put money into her hat, she would hand them a flower and engage in “A beautiful moment of prolonged eye contact.”

She states:

I had the most profound encounters with people, especially lonely people who looked like they hadn’t talked to anyone in weeks, and we would get this beautiful moment of prolonged eye contact … my eyes would say, “Thank you. I see you.” And their eyes would say, “Nobody ever sees me. Thank you.”

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

How can we see our students?

It is hard to be a genius and see the genius in each of our online students. We can’t as easily see what they are wearing which might give us insight into their personality, style, and how they want to portray themselves. Chatting before class is trickier. We don’t see them walking around campus or in the hallways. It is simply not as easy for us to see them as it is in an old fashioned classroom.

Yet, they are there, wanting to be seen. Here are some tips to help you “see” your online students.

-Stop and look. To see people, Palmer looked at them. She stopped what she was doing, she stopped what she was thinking, and she wholly devoted herself to looking at the passerby. If you want to see your students, you have to look at them. It takes times. You cannot look at them (or their work) when you are tired, when you are trying to cook dinner, or when you are distracted. It takes space. You need a quiet space to really reflect on who they are and what they have created for you.

-Tell your students, over and over again, that you want to know them and see their work. I frequently tell my students, “I love correcting essays! Whatever you write, I will correct. It will not hurt.” What I want to convey is “You are safe here. I know that your mom tears apart your writing and your last teacher never read it. I know that the blank page scares you and you are pretty convinced that you cannot write a sentence, but I promise you: you are safe here. Whatever you write will be kindly received.”

-Learn about your students before class. I conduct a phone interview with the parents of my students before the first class. I ask the parents to tell me what excites and engages their child. I inquire about the student’s learning style and make sure that their hopes for the course are in line with my offerings.

-Ask students for feedback. I frequently ask my students what is working for them. I might say, “How is the reading going? Let me know if it is too hard or too easy. I want the assignment to be just right.” They tell me.

Neuroscience has disclosed important information about the brain and how we learn. We now know more about how the human brain processes, interprets and stores information than ever.

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

Is this information relevant to how we teach and learn?

I think teachers should be aware of the research done in the field of neuroscience. The theories of learning (Behaviorist, Cognitive, Constuctivism), are important in how we relate to information and how it is delivered in the face-to-face and online learning environments. Course developers and teachers need to apply the theories of learning when it comes to instruction and learning.

The brain-based learning theory requires that we shift our focus to the learning process. This information can be used to facilitate learning. Technology can be used to support a brain-based finding that emotions are critical to learning.

How learners feel is very important to the learning process.

If a learner is enthusiastic and doesn’t feel any stress, learning will take place. If the conditions are negative and the learner doesn’t feel safe, learning will not take place. Neuroscientists discovered this information about the learning process as they were researching the way the brain learns.

Is the learning process the same as it was in the past?

We are all aware of the fact that yesterday’s methods worked well for yesterday’s students. But the student brain of today is wired differently from the one of 10 years ago. It is therefore necessary to study how students’ brains work today so that it is possible to enhance their learning.

Technology can cater to these neuroscience brain-based findings in the computer lab as well as for online learning courses. Various Microsoft tools such as PowerPoint presentations, Excel, Word processor and other software with multimedia functions can be used by the teacher and students instead of using conventional outdated class tools. Since today’s brain needs a TV like environment, both sound and animations can be used to suit today’s learner.

Lessons can be prepared by utilizing the information that is readily available on the internet. Learning can be meaningful. However to avoid frustrations and stress that can interfere with learning, lessons must be planned very carefully to help structure and focus students’ explorations on the Internet. This will direct them to the goals at hand. Today’s students experience different patterns from those of the past. Brain-based learning findings reveal that “the search for meaning is innate…, occurs through patterning that emotions are critical to these patterns”.

Emotions and Learning

How students feel in the classroom determines the amount of attention they devote to the lesson. It is very important for learners to feel relaxed and safe in the learning environment. Feeling threatened will shut down the learning process, and as Daniel Goleman claims “hijack the rest of the brain”.

We seem to have a history of coming up with the most ridiculously bad words to describe what we are doing in higher education. MOOC, blended, hybrid, and now flipped.

In many of these discussions about flipped classrooms I hear the same complaints and the same concerns. Perhaps if some of the myths around flipped classrooms could be dispelled we’d be able to have more productive conversations.

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

We teach children and teenagers #Spanish Online, with use of virtual, educational platform, guided and evaluated by a Spanish native teacher in Spain. The student first learns while having access to interactive learning materials, and will then be evaluated by a qualified Spanish teacher. #FlippedClassroom www.spanish-school-herradura.com

Most of us can point back to our own college experience, where some of the most inspiring and life changing courses were lecture courses. The last thing we should ever do is stop a brilliant lecturer from lecturing.

What flipped classroom proponents recognize is that there is variation in the quality of lecture classes on our campuses. Some classes should be left alone, and some classes could benefit from moving from a pure lecture format to a teaching format that takes advantage of new techniques and technologies.

The choice to move from lecture to any other format should totally be up to the instructor. She is in the best position to know what is the most effective teaching method. If she wants to do some flipping then resources and help should be available to give her a a hand.

The flipped classroom model promotes more rewarding classroom experiences, when implemented well. Learn how to flip a foreign language class the right way.

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

The flipped classroom model is turning the education world on its head. (See what we did there?) Essentially, students listen to traditional lectures not in class, but in videos that they watch independently. In doing so, teachers can free up class time for more interactive learning activities. So, why wouldn’t every teacher do so?

Learning #Spanish #online the flipped way: study the interactive learning materials individually, and then sign up for the one-on-one online session with your Spanish native teacher in Spain for guidance and evaluation. Available for children (+9), teenagers and adults.

As a new episode of My Teacher is an App airs on BBC Radio 4, Edward Lawless urges teachers to embrace digital technology in the classroom – however frightening it seems

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

No matter what the conditions may be – online or face-to-face – the quality of the educational experience depends on the integrity of the curriculum, the teacher and the learning community.

That said, it's normal that teachers and leaders find the integration of online technology in education frightening. First of all, our generation of "digital immigrant" teachers must shift out of our comfort zone and into the world of our "digital-native" students. Second, it requires bricks-and-mortar schools to take a leap of faith into a medium that's essentially an unknown world. They have to let go of the familiar model that we hold dear – not necessarily because it works so well, but because it's what we know so well – to embrace an educational medium that many of us don't use, don't understand and don't trust. Third, and most importantly, it requires us to shift the power of learning from the teacher to the student; to become the facilitator for learning rather than the deliverer of knowledge and in so doing, to let students lead their own learning. That is a very disturbing prospect for many educators – and parents – because it's all about relinquishing control and taking risks.

But the internet is a natural part of students' lives and for many of them it has been that way since before they could walk. It's their natural environment for watching movies and TV programmes, accessing music, communicating with friends and organising their daily lives. It's not surprising that these digital natives don't consider online learning as such a risky venture. The internet already empowers our students with unprecedented educational access in ways that we could never have foreseen as teachers in training. The question is – how are we teaching them to use that power?

Flipped classroom or flipped learning is a methodology, an approach to learning in which technology is employed to reverse the traditional role of classroom time.

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

If in the past, classroom time is spent at lecturing to students , now in a flipped model, this time is utilized to encourage individualized learning and provide one-on-one help to students, and also to improve student-teacher interaction. While the instructional or teachable content is still available in class, however this content is mainly designed in such a way to be accessed outside class which is a great way for struggling students to learn at their own pace.

The challenges facing a new teacher are clear: how to write a strong lesson plan, how to master the fine art of lesson delivery and how to keep kids engaged in a positive classroom environment are all high on the list

In researching for this post, I found a significant amount of information across the Internet regarding the definition of blended learning. What it is, what it's not, and the fact that some say that it's not a new concept at all, but rather the re-birth of something that's been around for awhile -- just now with a new name.

There are many definitions of blended learning to be sure, but for our purposes let's take the definition of blended learning from Innosight Institute which defines blended learning as: a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace and at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home. The institute even goes on to say: there are four models of blended learning that categorize the majority of blended-learning programs emerging across the K-12 sector today. These four models are: Rotation, Flex, Self-Blend, and Enriched Virtual. (Not a perfect definition by any means, but one that gives us food for thought.)

Greetings from Boston and BLC12 (Alan November's Building Learning Communities Conference ). If you wish to follow the happenings at BLC12 check out the hashtag #BLC12 on Twitter...

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

Welcome to another post rich in resources on the Flipped Classroom. If you have come here looking for links that will guide you to videos and multimedia to use in a Flipped Classroom you will find that in the second half of this post. Perhaps you have tried a little Flip of your own and want to learn more. If you are beginning to investigate what a Flipped Classroom is, with the thought of possibly trying some kind of Flip yourself… then this is also the right place. I have researched and tried to find you the very best resources to get educators in all positions thinking about what a Flipped Classroom” really is”? I know that if you take a look at the resources provided you will walk away with a better understanding, and a well thought out implementation. It is the understanding and implementation that hold the key to success.

Study Spanish with professional interactive learning materials available through virtual platform, and online evaluation by Spanish native teacher in Spain. A unique concept of #BlendedLearning according to the #FlippedClassroom concept.

"I'm not very tech savvy" is the response I usually hear from teachers that struggle with technology. Whether it's attaching a document to an email or creating a PowerPoint, some teachers really have have a difficult time navigating the digital world. As schools around the globe begin to embed the use of technology in their learning environments, these teachers can be left feeling frustrated and marginalized by the new tools they are required to use but do not understand.

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

1. Build a Tech Team

Integrating technology can be very stressful for educators that aren't familiar with it. Having a support team that's flexible and available to struggling teachers is crucial for any tech rollout. Our tech team consisted of teachers, support staff and administrators. This group was able work together across multiple content areas and grade levels to support successful tech integration. We focused primarily on mind mapping ideas and helping teachers slowly introduce technology into their classes.

The sandbox of today has gone digital and is filled with dynamic touch screens that permeate the play area with brilliant colors, music and animation. These devices provide opportunities to increase engagement, participation and social interactions.

Learn Spanish with Spanish native teachers in Spain #BlendedLearning:

Efficient and personal #Spanish courses #Online for children and teenagers:

Parents, educators and related service providers seek out activities that ensure young children can reach their potential. The brilliant colors and unique interface of today's technologies offer young learners the opportunity to explore and learn in brief-yet-powerful, on-demand learning intervals with increased focus and motivation.

Should we embrace such technology for young learners? A joint position statement by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning Children's Media at Saint Vincent College emphasized that it is essential to apply principles of development and learning when considering the use of cutting-edge technologies and new media for young learners 0-8 years of age. When technology integration is built upon solid developmental foundations, and both the challenges and the opportunities of technology are considered, then technology and media can potentially benefit every child.

Teachers all over America are faced with this challenge of keeping students engaged in the classroom when their world outside of school is one of constant engagement and stimulation. Knowing the world outside of our institutional walls is only one step in addressing modern learning styles. How to act and adjust schools today is the next step in making the classroom of today ready for tomorrow.

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

The world around us is changing. This change affects the way we think, learn, and connect. In education, we have three options when dealing with these changes: avoid it, struggle with it, or embrace it. Technology would seem to be the panacea for solving all of these issues when it comes to engaging the digital brain. However, while it does have an impact in the classroom, the greatest impact still lies within the teacher and the content that they are trying to get their students to learn. Until the pedagogy and purpose align with this new world, we are all left fighting a battle rather than embracing it.

Learn to Blend and Flip with Technology Many teachers feel alone when it comes to teaching with and without technology. They wish they could share information and ideas with other teachers in their schools and around the globe. Learn to Blend and Flip with Technology course provides teachers with opportunities to collaborate with other teachers on how to blend and flip their classes with technology. You can access the content and class recordings here: http://www.wiziq.com/course/14339-blogging-reflective-learning...

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

Teaching with Technology

Learn to Blend and Flip with Technology is a free hands-on professional development course for educators and/or anyone who wants to share information in a socially meaningful way. The course includes live online classes (with recordings), content (via the courseware), discussions (via the course feed), and hands-on activities.

Participants learn how to create videos using Webcams via WizIQ classes, screencast-o-matic, PowerPoint presentations, and Google drive. They learn to create videos using screencast-o-matic, movenote, and jing and upload the video files to Youtube and Vimeo for blended learning, the flipped class, and to market their online courses. Participants learn how to teach with web technologies such as blogs, wikis, google drive, badges, the WizIQ live class, Moodle, social networks, and videos.

Certificates of Completion

Participants, who reflect on 10 of the live sessions on their blogs, receive a certificate of completion. One of the highlights of the course is a series of live online classes called “Understanding the Teaching System of WizIQ”.

Understanding the Teaching System of WizIQ

Understanding the Teaching System on WizIQ are live online classes led by Dr. Nellie Deutsch, an experienced WizIQ user. Nellie has been teaching with WizIQ since 2007. The webinars are part of a series of weekly online classes on the features available on WizIQ to organize online conferences, deliver MOOCs, and teach synchronous and/or asynchronous courses for fully online, blended, and flipped class programs for the private and public sectors.

Micro-Teaching on WizIQ

Members of Learn to Blend and Flip with Technology and Understanding the Teaching System of WizIQ are preparing for their certificates for Micro-teaching. From October to the end of December, 2014, you will be conducting micro teaching in pairs. You may pair up with anyone from the list of course learners. If your pair is not in the course, they can enrol.

The days of talking at students are finally over. I recall many a college class filled to the brim with students feverishly taking down notes, as our professor talked at us.

Sounds familiar? Probably.

Recently, I finished my Masters degree in what was a new environment for me: blended classes. The experience allowed me to further communicate with my colleagues and classmates in a manner that I hadn't been accustomed to. Instead of reading each other's notes and organizing study groups, we were posting in wikis and responding to discussion board posts. Instead of learning focused on facts and statistics that we needed to figure out how to memorize, our learning was focused on what we could do with the information presented.

I left this experience determined to bring the concept to my classroom, and due to the Common Core's adoption, we all need to embrace this concept. The fact is that the average American is using technology which is not only above what we in education generally use to teach, but this same technology is banned from our schools to prevent students from using it inappropriately. It's our job as educators to embrace this technology and navigate our students through it. Districts have already begun to explore blended instructional models, so to help ease any tension, here are some tips to keep in mind as you begin adopting these new teaching methods.

When we talk about what changes technology has brought to classrooms across the globe, the answers could basically be never ending. Teachers could talk about things like bringing ease to researching all types of topics, bringing organization (and a lack of physical papers to lose) to the classroom, and making connections for professional development. There could be a lot of discussion about the millions of nuances of amelioration brought to classrooms – both physical and virtual. …

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

A new way to learn Spanish, through virtual educational platfom with interactive learning materials and one-on-one evaluation by Spanish native teachers in Spain. Courses for children, teenagers & adults. Contact me for more info: info@spanishonline.nl

The main focus of these fluencies is to help instill in today's students a set of unconscious skills to help them survive and thrive in the 21st century and beyond.

InfoWhelm, digital media expansion, social networking, exponential change, and the globalization of modern marketplaces are all catalysts that have created the need for these essential skills to become part of our students' educational development. Each Fluency, along with Global Digital Citizenship, is presented as a learnable and applicable process, defined by its own unique stages (similar to the scientific method, writing process, or media development).

What follows is a brief breakdown of each 21st Century Fluency and the stages that define its implementation. Be sure to watch the brief introductory videos, as they are an excellent companion for helping you understand each Fluency better.

A prominent Louisiana-based IT leader breaks down what mobility means for K–12 environments.

Preliminary data from the 2013 research show that 53 percent of students in grades 6 through 12 want to be able to use their smartphones, tablets and notebook computers at school for educational purposes. Educators are equally excited about how mobile devices can reshape the teaching and learning process, with 58 percent of teachers and librarians viewing such devices as a good way to personalize learning and 55 percent of them already using the technology to extend learning for their students beyond the school day.

Rote memorization and the mastery of basic skills are no longer enough. To succeed in college and the workplace today, students need to be able to:

Solve problemsCommunicateAdapt to changeWork in teamsAnalyze and conceptualizeReflect on and improve performanceSelf-manageCreate, innovate and critiqueEngage in learning throughout life

Given the proliferation of mobile devices today, for students “there’s no more ‘I think,’” Abshire told session attendees. “If you ask them something, they’re immediately on their phones and tablets Googling the question. It’s now ‘I know.’”

I'm in my office tapping away on my computer, and can hear sounds coming from the other side of the door: clinks from my husband washing dinner dishes, and chirps from my son Leo's iPad as he happily entertains himself.

"Happily entertains himself" is not a phrase I use casually. While Leo is absolutely one of the happiest kids you'll ever meet, he is also autistic, and does best with 24/7 supervision and support. So for him to independently busy himself with that iPad is ... kind of a big deal. iPads are kind of a big deal for many kids with special needs.

The flipped classroom model is more like a representation of Socratic approach of learning which included consequential conversations between students and their

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

Why is flipped classroom idea getting so much hype these days?

It is because since the time it first started, it has shown improvement at various levels. Students love this system and are more excited about flipped classroom model learning.

Some of the best aspects of flipped classrooms are:

The flipped classroom model is more like a representation of Socratic approach of learning which included consequential conversations between students and their teachers.It is a model presented by great psychologists and educators who put more stress on exciting aspects of learning new things.According to cognitive science, students should be getting instant response.The online aspect of the flipped classroom model is making it more diversified and supportive for majority of struggling learners.

So. You've tried flipping your class, and it didn't go well. Or you've heard about flipping and want to try the approach, but you're pretty sure it won't work in your school. Don't give up yet -- with a slight twist, flipping might be possible for you after all.

Spanish for children and teenagers: interactive learning materials, personally guided by Spanish native teacher in Spain

Flipped classrooms -- where direct instruction happens via video at home, and "homework" takes place in class -- are all the rage right now, and for good reason. Early research on flipped learning looks promising. In its 2013 Executive Summary, the Flipped Learning Network reported that teachers who practice flipping have seen "higher student achievement, increased student engagement, and better attitudes toward learning and school."

But successful flipping has one big catch -- if it's going to work, the at-home learning absolutely must happen. And teachers have zero control over what happens at home. For one example, we can't guarantee reliable, consistent Internet access in every household -- not yet, anyway. Those committed to flipping have found creative fixes:

Arranging access before and after schoolLending out devicesSending recorded lectures home on flash drives or DVDs

These are all workable solutions. Still, the extra work may dissuade some teachers from making the leap. And even if the technology issue is resolved, that doesn't help with chaotic home environments or students who have a tendency to let homework slide.

Modifying the Flipped Classroom Concept

None of these problems should stop us from trying, but there's another way to apply the flipped model without the problems associated with sending the work home. I'm calling it the "In-Class Flip."

My first two years of high school were a continuous struggle. I wasn’t very engaged during class, had a difficult time doing my homework, and was unable to get help from my parents because they didn’t know the material that I was being assigned. After my sophomore year I took the ACT test and scored a 13 – which was not good enough to have many options after high school.

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

I began preparing myself to work at McDonalds because I didn’t think there would be anything else I’d be qualified to pursue after I finished high school. It wasn’t what I wanted – but it seemed to be my only option.

On my first day of class junior year, everything changed.

My school began flipping all of its classes, which meant that for homework, I was assigned videos to watch, which were made by my teachers and explained the material which we were learning. During class, instead of listing to my teacher lecture, we began doing our homework assignments. If I had any questions, I was able to ask someone else in the class or my teacher, who was there and ready to help whenever I was confused or didn’t understand something. Suddenly, everything started to make sense.

The biggest different in the flipped classroom was that I was able to learn at my own pace. When watching videos at home, if I didn’t understand something my teacher said, or wasn’t able to take notes fast enough, I had the ability to pause and rewind the video, and watch it again. Also, with class time now being spent doing work and solving problems, I could get help whenever I needed it. Rather than getting stuck on a problem at home and give up when it became too difficult, my teacher was able to show me what I was doing wrong, so I could figure out the answer and move on.

Learn Spanish according to the flipped classroom concept; the student studies the material provided in the virtual platform, and after each chapter signs up for a one-on-one evalution session online, with the Spanish native teacher in Spain.

The iPad is not magic, and as many educators have found integrating them meaningfully is by no means a just-add-water proposition. The same applies to Project-Based Learning …

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

The same applies to Project-Based Learning.

Project-Based Learning is a method of giving learners access to curriculum in authentic ways that promote collaboration, design, imagination, and innovation while also allowing for more natural integration of digital and social media. Below we’ve offered 23 ways that the iPad can be used in your classroom. While given strategies may or may not fit exactly into your curriculum or grade level, consider them instead as a kind of board of ideas to inspire your own thinking. If “Designing a tire” is beyond the ability of your 4th graders (and you’re certain of that), what else might they design instead? If analyzing narrative design sounds below your college freshman, what might them “consume and design” instead?

A large percentage of today’s students, in fact, are eager to use their ingenuity to solve problems both big and small. A recent Gallup-HOPE survey found that 42 percent of youth in grades 5-12 aspire to develop world-changing inventions.

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

Helping good ideas grow is part of the innovation process, too. That’s why innovative PBL teachers often seek out collaboration opportunities. They make time to brainstorm and problem-solve with colleagues, modeling the benefits of teamwork. They open windows on the innovation happening in their own classrooms by inviting the community to project showcase events, posting videos of student accomplishments, or just tweeting out amazing moments of student creativity. Learn #Spanish #Online, professional and Personal #BlendedLearning www.spanish-school-herradura.com/online-spanish

A quick glimpse into the arena of education debate highlights just how disrupted children’s learning is in 2014. From changing curriculums, inspection madness and the implementation of new technology, this is a period of instability and concern

Sonja Hartemink e-learning Spanish's insight:

As a profession, teaching is driven by so many outside influences that it is easy to see why teachers often take to forums to voice their displeasure with this or that. We all know the only thing that matters is learning, yet I wonder how much precious time is wasted on the distractions?

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

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Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.